GI: Well, it was something that we were trying to do for a while. We had already put together some podcasts and short documentaries and finally this year we got together with enough riders to start planning a complete film. It all came down to a surf trip in Ireland. Guys were wondering if we should release another clip about that journey and, since we were in March, we convinced them to store that footage and wait ’til the end of the year. That way we would have time to recollect more substantial material to do something more ambitious.

I wanted a film that could represent what i feel as a bodyboarder, and for me bodyboarding is all about searching for waves, making friends, traveling and experiencing different places and different people. I’ve been living like that for the past 18 years and as a result I feel that this experience really educated me. The music I hear, the books I read, the films I’ve watched… all came as a result of the people I’ve met along the way. Bodyboarding became a common ground for all that. “The Bela Arte” is a one year sample of that way of living.

Chapter One: “The Loneliest Number” Why release in instalments rather than one big film release? We actually presented the film as a single release. We had an amazing premiere in one of the most iconic cinemas of Oporto, Portugal and I think it was an amazing moment. We gathered two generations of bodyboarders, watching a 30-minute film on a six-metre wide screen… something quite rare in Portugal! It was so good that we ended up making a double session in the same night.

Did you consider doing a film/DVD release – why/why not? From the first sketch the riders were mostly interested in presenting a solid project to their own sponsors, and the idea of editing 10 different chapters, one in each different location, has to do with this demand. We believe that we are maximizing the views and exposure of this project by releasing the film in chapters, and we could to it without the expenses of a DVD release.

How long did it take you to film and edit? How long has the project taken overall and how much money have you invested in it? Have you made a financial return on the film or was this more of a passion project?

We filmed everything from March to September. I like to edit along the way, so that the editing process gives me ideas of what I should be filming and what paths I should take. Sometimes it’s really hard for me to say it’s done and to know where an edit should end, so I really like to have time to be as open as possible to change things.

Regarding investment, that’s a complete different story. The riders covered all the expenses of the film production, regarding to travel expenses and some required material for production and film release. In exchange, we (production) invested our time and work. For sure it’s something you only do with a lot of passion, since I don’t believe the bodyboard industry is willingly able to pay for this kind of project… yet! But I honestly believe that in the near future things will change, and both riders and industry will see how profitable this type of investment is. “Surf films” are the most effective way to engage the aspirational side of a “surfing life” with a potential customer of a certain brand. I believe this is the state where the bodyboard industry will possibly grow in numbers and range of audience, more so in freesurfing, rather than competition.

The script was based on the idea of finding “exotic waves”, so we started looking for less portrait places, and we’ve been all around the world – a remote part of Indonesia, Northern Europe, Ireland, Portugal, Panama, South Caribbean Sea, Mexico. After all, I believe there are exotic waves, less related in all the countries where there’s a coastline.

Joao Pinheiro

Jovenes Atletas de Portugal en Panamá

Miguel Adao

Hugo Pinheiro

Gastao Entrudo

La señora del Chat ...

El comienzo de un VES TOUR - es una aventura...

What’s your filmmaking background? The Bela Arte Project is one of the more cinematic bodyboarding films we’ve seen in a long time. Have you done many other projects before The Bela Arte? I’ve never studied cinema. I’m an architect, but along the way, and working as a freelancer, I started drawing some storyboards for some independent film productions. This experience led me to the directors, script writers, and DOPs [directors of photography], and I ended up being involved with cinema professionally.

WWW.VIVIENDOELSURF.COM

Dale Play a MID 2013 con tomas de The Bela Arte

En La Guaira , Colón para ir a EL PLAYÓN

Lamgostinos para la cena

WWW.BODYBOARDINGPANAMA.TV/SHOP

A ver la ola - Cacique

We then founded a small independent cinema platform called Dinis&Gustavo and we started working with bodyboarding right from the beginning. Nowadays we mainly focus on documentary cinematography, so alongside some riders profiles and other surf-trip documentaries, we’ve been working on a series of documentaries called People you know. You guys have probably seen The Faustino you know, about Ricardo Faustino.

Chapter Four: “The Caribbean Block” Tell us a bit more about yourself in general. My name is Gustavo Imigrante, 31, from Oporto, Portugal. I’m an architect, but working as a director and cinematographer on Dinis&Gustavo, a small independent film producer. I’ve been a bodyboarder, since the age of 12. As I said, we’re passionate about cinema and we invest a lot on our own productions. We pay our bills working for our beloved clients, doing such things as TV and web advertising, and some web documentaries.

Do you get a chance to bodyboard much yourself or are you too busy behind the camera and in the editing bay!? When I’m not out of town (Oporto), I try to surf every day. While filming surfing and bodyboarding I try to separate things. It’s hard I have to say! No matter how focused you are on your work it’s always hard to be the guy that’s outside of an epic session.

Who are some of your biggest influences in filmmaking, not only in bodyboarding films, but in general e.g. Cinema, documentary makers etc.? Regarding filmmaking, there are a lot of directors and cinematographers that I’m really passionated about. I wouldn’t call them influences, but more inspirations. Directors as Bergman, Bertolucci, Goddard, Kubrick… there are so many directors and so many inspirational films. Being more specific I have to say that Todd Barnes and Stoke Machine (James Kates and co.) marked a turning point in bodyboarding films. And I have to include Kai Neville as a significant influence on the way people started to approach surf films differently. I really appreciate the work these guys are doing.

Explorando y adaptándonos

Tell us about the choice of soundtrack – it’s one of the more varied soundtracks we’ve heard in a bodyboarding film for a while – why’d you choose the score you did? Most of the times I try to find a strong plan or a sequence of plans that will define a whole section/chapter. From this point I start having an idea of the mood, the colours and the rhythm that will guide the complete sequence. I start looking for the right soundtrack at this moment. As I said before, I like to have time so that I have space to let the right song come to me.

The Bela Arte promoviendo el CPBP2013 COPA TOYOTA

En Cacique , enamorados de la ola

Do you have any advice for young people wanting to get into filming/editing/filmmaking etc.? Take your time. Don’t rush things! Don’t be too anxious about the amazing session you just had! Feel passionate about your influences and try to understand what’s really driving you. Lose yourself with films. There are almost 100 years of amazing cinematography that you probably wont have time to put in line… so don’t rush things.

What do you plan on doing now? More bodyboarding productions or are you moving on to something else? What is your ultimate goal in the future with your filmmaking? I think I’ll always be involved with bodyboarding somehow. There are a lot of places and waves that I’m looking forward to meet, and I sincerely hope I’ll get there through bodyboarding. Right now I’m thinking about working back on some documentaries. I don’t have an ultimate goal, I’d rather think about the next projects.

Tell us about the state of Portuguese bodyboarding at the moment. It seems like the amount of talent and content coming out of there is at an all-time high right now. More than ever you see people on the shore with cameras, and you have young riders already working on a consistent basis with young videographers. That’s definitely a great achievement that will produce great results in the future, and of course it brings a lot of exposure to what’s happening in the line-up. All the guys feel pushed to surf better and the level is getting higher. On the other hand, there are less kids starting to bodyboard. Fifteen years ago we had one kid with a surfboard for every 20 kids with a bodyboard. Now it’s exactly the opposite.

Who do you think are the most impressive riders in Portugal and Europe for that matter, right now? Who impressed you the most during the making of the film? Europe has amazing riders. Pierre is next level and he’s really pushing all the European riders to follow him. Alex Uranga really impressed me while filming for The Bela Arte. He surely deserves the Top 10 spot on the IBA rankings. In Portugal I have to mention Manuel Centeno and Antonio Cardoso. They’re grown-up guys, leading the scene and working hard everyday to make it better. Take a note on these three groms – Daniel Fonseca, Steph Kokorelis and Miguel Adao. They all have amazing talent and style for such a young age.

How has the demise of Vert mag affected the bodyboarding scene there? I think most of the young guys cannot understand how important Vert mag was in the growing of bodyboarding in Portugal. All the international references, riders, moves, comps, and everything we knew about international bodyboarding was brought to us by that magazine. Probably we’re all thinking that the web is somehow able to replace this function, and probably it is. But I’m not so sure about the ability of replacing the excitement of waiting to find out who’ll be on the next cover. There’s an aspirational side to a magazine that pushes the community to be better, to unite, to discuss, get bigger… Personal Facebook and Instagram profiles are not able to do that.

What about the economic situation in Portugal and wider Europe – how has that affected bodyboarding and the population in general? Have you seen the effects personally? Portugal is a single case study. What happens with bodyboarding really reflects the economics – less investment in the industry, means less riders are able to progress into a professional career. At the same time, we have one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in Europe, and an employment market that is widely distorted. A lot of young guys are forced to go abroad to find a job. That’s a sad reality and I was also once in that situation. I have to say that Portugal is one of the best places to live, especially if you’re a bodyboarder – amazing waves, amazing weather, amazing people. You don’t need that much to make a simple and happy life, but you need at least something that pays your bills and cheers you up to progress and invest in future. Hard times for sure.